


Meet the Parents

by Writerleft



Series: Comes Marching Home [41]
Category: Avatar: Legend of Korra
Genre: Dorks, F/F, Family, Korrasami Month 2016, Mian - Freeform, Prompt:Meet the Parents, Sweet
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-11-20
Updated: 2016-11-20
Packaged: 2018-09-01 02:41:10
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,216
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8603998
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Writerleft/pseuds/Writerleft
Summary: A 'meet the parents' fic without Tonraq or Senna? Whatever does that mean?





	

She bit her lip, trying not to shake in the oversized chair. Her little legs kicked absently, well above the polished waiting room floor.

Her dress itched. It was new, and yellow, and she hated it... but she tried not to squirm. She didn't want them to see. She didn't want them to have any reason not to like her, didn't want to be alone again, didn't want—

She started to cough. She covered her mouth with the little handkerchief they'd given her, tried so hard to stop, but she knew she couldn't stop it.

The door opened. Miss Zhe, the head of the orphanage, stepped in, her smile small and flat. “I'm sorry, Mian,” she said, crouching down and touching the side of her face. “I'm sorry they got your hopes up, but we'll find you a mommy and daddy soon.”

The coughing came again. Someone else hadn't wanted her. Nobody ever wanted her. She clutched the handkerchief in her tiny fingers, struggled against her cough, and started to cry.

 

**

 

Zhe sat in her office, shaking her head grimly. Mian was a sweet child, but again the couple had had second thoughts. They couldn't afford the medical bills, they said. And that may have been true. But when the mother asked if there were other children, ones with different parentage...

She sighed.

The telephone rang. A welcome distraction.

“Hello, South Republic City Orphanage,” she answered. 

“Good morning,” came the soft voice from the other side. It tickled the back of her mind, vaguely familiar. “My wife and I would like to adopt a child.” 

Her wife? That sort of thing was becoming more common, especially since—

Zhe's eyes widened. She recognized the voice. “Of... of course. Naturally, I would be happy to—”

“You keep detailed files on the histories of the children there?” 

She swallowed. “Naturally.”

“Is there a time where I might view them?” 

“Don't... don't you wish to meet the children, first?” 

The voice on the other end of the line paused. “This is an important decision for us.”

“Of course.” 

“We've been to other orphanages, and they had ideas of what sort of child we'd like, based on who they think we are and what they think we want.”

Well, that typically was the idea. “New parents do typically need some guidance, however capable or distinguished they may be.”

“Guidance, we can take,” the other woman chuckled. “It's presumption and greed that we object to. We won't pick just based on the records, of course, but we want the chance to look through who we think we could be the best moms for.” 

She nodded slowly. “Alright. I can clear some time tomorrow, and have a few records—”

“I'd like to look at all of them.” 

“...all of them?” 

“I read quickly.” 

No doubt she did. “Can... do I need to expect the press, or—”

“I have no intention of telling them. A few other orphanages decided to.” 

“Another reason you've decided to call me?” 

There was a chuckle. “I think we understand each other, Miss Zhe. I will see you in the morning.”

 

**

 

Mian's coughing woke her up from her nap. She blinked blearily once the fit past, looking at the other little kids, still comfortably asleep. Most of them had come recently—some still cried a lot. But she'd been here as far back as she remembered.

“Hey,” a kind voice asked. She was new, but wearing the same drab browns all the people here wore. “Are you alright?” 

Mian let out a whine, turning away. The workers here came and went, too.

Gentle fingers touched her shoulder. “Would you like a drink of water?”

Mian nodded.

The woman didn't leave, but soon, a bubble of water bigger than Mian's hands was floating over the bed.

Mian gasped, reaching up to poke it. The woman chuckled, waggling her fingers, and the water ball rippled.

Mian giggled, clapping her little hands. The woman touched her hair, and smiled.

“Hey,” another woman whispered, pushing a broom behind her. “Don't wake the other children.” 

“Right,” the first said, wincing. “Hey... since you're awake, you want to go play in the other room?” 

Mian bit her lip. The grownups here were never this nice. Still, she nodded.

The woman helped her sit up, and held her hand down for Mian. She grabbed two of the woman's fingers, looking up at her.

They snuck out between the other beds, the woman with the broom close behind them. “What are you doing?” the second lady asked when they got to the hallway, her long pony tail flopping against her back as her head darted to look behind them.

“What, you want me to go back to cleaning the floor?” 

“That's... why we're dressed like this,” said the other. 

“Your plan was silly,” said the first, bending over suddenly to scoop Mian up, spinning them both as she did so. Her heart pounded, not sure why she was being held, but she saw the woman's smile, and she smiled back. This was a nice lady. 

The other woman laughed happily. “Easy, there, Kor. We just work here, remember?”

The woman holding her rolled her eyes. “Say, Mian, do you like it here? Playing with all the other girls and boys?”

Mian looked down. Nobody asked her things like that. She saw Miss Zhe down the hall, her arms crossed, but she was watching them and nobody was in trouble.

“Korra,” the second woman warned. 

“Fine,” said the first, kneeling down and setting Mian on her feet. She smiled, smoothing Mian's hair. “Do you like big doggies, Mian? Big fluffy white ones?” 

“Doggy?” 

“BIIIIG doggies!” she said, spreading her hands out above her. “What do big doggies say?” 

Mian twisted one foot against the floor. She liked doggies... “Wuf.”

“That was a  _ little _ sound!” the other woman said, crouching beside them. “This is a  _ real big _ doggy! What would she sound like? Can you make that sound bigger?” 

“Wuf!” 

The woman chuckled, pressing her hands together in front of her.

Mian smiled.

Suddenly, the woman reached forward and tapped Mian on the nose. “Boop.” Mian giggled. The woman waggled her finger at her own nose, and Mian reached out and poked it. "Boop!" the woman said. "You booped me!"

“Gosh, Korra...” the other one said, shaking her head slightly. “She's so—”

“Boop,” said the first, touching the other's nose. 

Mian giggled, clapping.

Both women smiled, glancing at each other.

“Now you!” the first woman said, to the other. “C'mon, Mian, look at that pretty nose there. You want to boop it, don't you?” 

Mian laughed.

“C'mon, right here,” she continued, taking gentle hold of Mian's hand, raising it slowly toward the other's pale face. “Boooooooooooop!” 

Mian's finger touched her nose, and the woman stuck out her tongue, crossing her eyes. She squealed at the silly, pretty lady. Two nice grownups, all to herself!

She started to cough.

Quickly, she had lost her footing, landing on her bottom as the coughs raked her.

The women moved at once, the one with the pretty hair holding her and caressing her head, while the other moved her hands. Water floated toward Mian's chest. She said something, about the water being cold, about feeling better, but Mian coughed and coughed.

Water touched her chest, soaking through her clothes, and she shivered. Then, it glowed, just like when the healers came, and she felt better.

The coughing stopped, but she still felt weak. Both women swooped down to hold on to her, sitting on the ground, setting her between their two laps. “You're okay, right sweetie?” asked the taller one.

Mian turned, looking curiously up at those light green eyes, those sparkling red lips. She reached up, said “Bup!” and poked her nose.

Both grownups laughed, smiling extra wide. Their heads touched each others', while their arms both held Mian.

She felt warm and happy, feeling both their heartbeats, sitting out in the hall, as slowly, sleep came back to her.

 

**

 

“Oh. my. GOSH Asamishe'sso _cute_!” the Avatar said as they got back to Zhe's office. As irregular as all of this had been, the caretaker could see that Mrs. Sato was right to have taken a firm hand—she certainly wouldn't have expected the Avatar to talk like that. 

Asami chuckled, guiding her wife to a chair. “I was watching. That cough looks really painful. Have any healers been in?”

Zhe nodded, lowering herself into her threadworn chair. “Once a month, a waterbending healer comes to tend on the kids. But Mian's problem is recurring, something we can treat but not fix.”

“Why is Mian not treated more often, then?” Asami Sato asked, arms crossed. 

There it was. How she phrased this could lead to so much good being done for the kids here, or it could be a squandered opportunity. She'd lost sleep the last few nights even contemplating this sort of exchange. Deep breath. “I'm afraid we simply can't afford bringing a healer in any more often. There are surprisingly few in the city, most work in hospitals, after all—”

Asami leaned forward, one hand touching hers. “You don't need to be nervous. I... admit that when I was in here looking at all the records, I may have happened to have glanced at your financials, too.”

Zhe blanched. “That... Mrs. Sato, with all due respect, that was inappropriate!”

Asami blushed, looking away. “I've been scolded for it already. But would you perhaps forgive me if Future Industries fully refurbished your facility, and I make a standing matching donation for anything else you receive?”

Her mouth went dry. It worked, trying to get a sound out, but nothing came out of her throat.

“You didn't say for how long, Asami,” Korra said, poking her wife's arm. 

“Oh, yes, how silly of me. I was thinking, for the next twenty years. Nice round number.” 

“Why not twenty one years?” 

“Why twenty one?” 

“That's how old I was, when we got together.” 

Asami snorted. “Twenty one is fine, you dork.”

Zhe swallowed. “You wanted to make sure I would spend the money well.”

Korra winked at her. “She's a sly one, right?”

Asami smacked her wife's arm, playfully. “We can finalize those details later. Mian.”

Zhe composed herself. “Yes. You read her full file, obviously.”

“Yes we have. That's why she interested us to begin with.” 

“Because her father was a secret Equalist.” 

Asami arched an eyebrow at her. “Because I know how it feels to be judged for that.”

Point. “And the rest of it?”

“Doesn't matter,” Korra said, leaning forward and twining her fingers through Asami's. Zhe had seen thousands of couples over her years in the orphanage, but if she'd ever had any doubts about two women working as a couple, they were utterly gone now. “How much more talking do we need to do? Can we do it later? Let's get to signing things!” 

“Korra,” Asami laughed, “calm down!” 

“Calm down? The sooner we get done here, the sooner we get to  _ take our daughter home _ .” 

Asami blinked.

She turned to Zhe. “Where are the papers?” she asked.

 

**

 

Mian toddled out of the bedroom with all the other kids, on their way to dinner after the afternoon nap. She'd had such a good dream about the two pretty women... had they even been real, when they'd visited? 

But, there they were! Was she still sleeping? Or were they really just outside the door, waiting in the hallway, holding hands. The short-haired one waved at her, and both were smiling.

Mian waved back, and didn't notice at first that Miss Zhe was gently guiding her from the group. That the other kids kept walking to the dining hall. The two women knelt, and she slowly moved toward them.

“Hey,” the short-haired one said, a grin splitting her face. “We didn't get properly introduced earlier. My name is Korra. This pretty lady here is Asami.”

“Hi!” the pretty lady said. “Did you have a good nap?” 

Mian nodded.

“You did?”

Mian smiled, and kept nodding.

“You're not much of a talker, are you?” 

Mian looked down, but the lady touched her arm, just barely, just sweetly. “Hey, that's okay. You can be shy. But we had a lot of fun spending time with you the other day. Didn't we, Korra?”

“SO much fun,” Korra said. “Did you have fun?” 

Mian nodded again.

“Would you like to spend more time with us, Mian?” she asked. “I mean... all the time, maybe?” 

Mian opened her mouth, looking at them both. These nice ladies liked her?

“Would...” the taller one—Asami—took her little hand, squeezing her palm lightly. “Would you like to come home with us? We really like you and we want to...” 

“We want to be your mommies,” Korra said, her voice cracking. “Is that okay? Do you want to come home with us?” 

Her eyes were wide. She turned to Miss Zhe, expecting more flat disappointment, but she was smiling too, and nodding. “Home?”

“Yeah, we have a car seat ready and everything,” Asami said.

Her eyes went wider. “ _ Ca _ ?” 

“She really likes cars,” Miss Zhe said. 

Asami's eyes sparkled. Korra made a squeak. “Will you be our daughter, Mian?”

Mian swallowed, then nodded very hard.

The family hugged.

 

**Author's Note:**

> I may be in full-on living vicariously mode with these two--or now, these three! Korrasami is a spiritual hug whenever I write them.
> 
> [Visit me on my tumblr! Say hi! ](https://threehoursfromtroy.tumblr.com/)


End file.
